


In Memories Is Where We Build (And We Build For Our Future)

by ohmygoshwhatascream



Series: Xenoblade Ship Week 2020 [3]
Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Bad Parenting, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff, Memories, Snowball Fights, bc i can do that, pandoria just wants her prince to be happy okay, tantal being kinda shitty, theosoir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:59:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24678871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmygoshwhatascream/pseuds/ohmygoshwhatascream
Summary: Pandoria cannot help but think of where they once were - back when these old ruins and endless snow was all they had ever known. She thinks of where they are now, of the path they took to get here.It's strange, after all they've been through, that there are some things that simply never change.Written for Xenoblade Ship Week 2020.Prompt: Future/Memory
Relationships: Zeke von Genbu/Saika | Pandoria
Series: Xenoblade Ship Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1781698
Kudos: 5





	In Memories Is Where We Build (And We Build For Our Future)

**Author's Note:**

> heheheh back on my panzeke bullshit.  
> i vanished for like heh 6 months oops and i have returned, scream the white, to bestow upon you my improved fanfiction writing skills 
> 
> lmao imagine if my writing is still just as trash as before oof i think i got better but who knows?

The snow piles higher and higher, a steadily growing tower of white, that thickens under the blizzard of snowstorm. Pandoria's hands are cold, a coldness she had never really felt for although the crystal in her chest is shattered, half-broken, with that gap had arrived a life that was not her own, filling the void-space with something unfamiliar yet so much like home.

The cold, the chill, is what Zeke is feeling. The way it seeps into his skin, thrums in the very marrow of his bones as they complete their task. She takes comfort in the bond that her and Zeke share, the feelings that meld into one, his emotions that become intertwined with her own. 

So they wade through the deep snow, the bone-cold ice tingling at Pandoria's bared skin, the numbness a strange sort of comfort that grows and grows as her hands pick up clumps of blanket-soft snow, form it and meld it to make the familiar shape she remembers all too well.

There are things they must be doing, an important quest they must continue with, but there is no reason that her and Zeke cannot take a moment for themselves.

Like they had so long ago, years and years when Zeke was but a child and she had only just been resonated with, freed from the memory-wiping confines of her core crystal, they stood in the waist-deep snow. Although it has been over a decade since they were last here, since they had last done this, the skill returns to her like muscle memory - her actions something she could never forget. (and something she never will, for never again will her memories be wiped clean)

Zeke is taller now than he ever was. From a child to an adult, fully grown with skin marred with scars that he never had before. His eyepatch is skewiff, his hair wet, slickened against his forehead. He's laughing like a child once more, though, flinging tightly wadded snowballs at Pandoria every time he thinks her back is turned. (She's prepared, though, and with each snowball that hits her, she sends back a torrent more, much to a squealing Zeke's amusement)

The snow grows deeper, higher and higher and all Pandoria can think about is when they had last been out here, last escaped the confines of Tantal Throne Room to explore the endless plains of the Genbu drifts.

She remembers Zeke's tearstained face as they had ran out, escaped through the back, sneaking past the guards placed at every exit.  _ Maybe _ Pandoria had electrocuted them, just a teensy-tiny bit, and maybe Zeke had locked one of them in a store-cupboard, but that was it. That was all they had done. And it was  _ important. _

Zeke had been upset because his father had shouted at him,  _ again _ , and Pandoria wasn't just going to  _ sit around and let him be sad, _ what sort of Blade would she be if she left him to wallow? It was her  _ duty  _ to help Zeke. Her one goal in life was to make him happy - and maybe figure out what the limit was for the stupid things Zeke would do; so far, she hadn't found that limit. She had been sure that, one day, she'd find something he refused to do. Over a decade later, however, she  _ still _ hadn't found it. She'd seriously thought that running completely nude through Argentum would have been the dealbreaker but no, he'd actually done it.  _ Twice. _ The madman. 

But, anyway, she remembers that day clearly, for in her mind that was the day when she and Zeke truly realised the importance of their bond, the importance of their friendship.

For together they had snuck out, using their incredible wit to outsmart each and every obstacle that crossed their path. They had snuck out of Tantal's throne room, made their way to the village outside.

They knew they would not have to hide once they had left the palace. There were few locals who would give a second glance to the young prince of Tantal running through the village, his blade sprinting behind him. They had more pressing issues at hand. The crops that - although intended to survive the blistering cold of Tantal, simply would not grow. The failed harvests, the livestock that would become ridden with disease, the water that tasted of rust, of something artificial and not quite right.

They all knew it. Genbu was, ever so slowly, beginning to fade. Not die, not exactly, but there were ether shortages. The years were getting colder and colder and nobody could figure out why.

Back then, back when Zeke was only a boy and Pandoria was still so new to this world, they had thought things had reached their worst. (Later, they would realise that this was not so. That Tantal could slip further and further, that it could isolate itself far away from all other civilisation and leave its people trapped on a Titan that could no longer sustain its own form of life)

But they had escaped the enclosed city of Theosoir, snuck their way behind the grown women and men, cloaks hiding smuggled goods and their eyes shifting from left to right as they exchanged their illegal wares.

Zeke was old enough to know that this wasn't right, that this was  _ illegal, _ but with shortages running rampant through the city, with prices running through the roof and poverty becoming commonplace, what were people supposed to do? It was certain that they would not receive any help from Eulogimenos, for he spent all of his time holed up in his study, countless letters from far off lands piled high on his desk.

Pandoria remembers this, for she had snuck into his office whilst he had been away, her curiosity getting the better of her. She does not remember exactly what she saw, but she is certain that Eulogimenos was in correspondence with another ruler, someone far away from here. All she knows is that violet ink, a colour so light it was almost blue.

But away they had snuck out of Theosoir's ruinous walls, away from the sadness and misery that seeped in the ether-light, dimming with each passing day. Pandoria remembers how, when they would do this, (for they would do such things frequently) she would urge Zeke ahead, move him forwards faster and faster, for she could see the guilt in his dark eyes, see the torment that swirled there like overcast days and thunderous clouds.

_ These were his people, and there was nothing he could do to help them. _

But Pandoria had tried to keep him smiling, tried to keep him happy. She'd make bad jokes, say the most ridiculous things that came to mind, and when the tense line of Zeke's shoulders would begin to soften and when his pink-stained cheeks would begin to ache with a smile, Pandoria would know that she had done her job.

So onwards they would escape. Escape the shadows of failure, if only for a few hours, and down they would sneak to the vast drifts of Genbu. Slipping and sliding on the smooth ice, feet struggling to find a hold in the snow that half-melted under their feet, hands clinging on one another lest they slip and fall, (but they always did, no matter what. Pandoria would end up with snow stuck in her hair and a mouthful of ice) until eventually, they would find themselves exactly where they wanted to be.

Away from any aggressive monsters, they would mock-bow with a laugh before the two of them would run to opposite ends of the drifts, hands full of snow and heads full of grand ideas. Then they would begin. Build their battlements, their fairytale castles for which they would defend with all the ice and snow their small hands could gather. Pandoria was banned from using her ether to help her out, (although she always did, when Zeke wasn't looking) but together they would build their opposing structures, their grand kingdoms at war - like in the old stories, in Zeke's old picture books that speak of a time when Tantal wasn't divided from the rest of the world. 

They would prepare themselves, count down their last remaining seconds as they made as many snowballs as they possibly could, and then it would start.

A battle from beyond the ages. The most ferocious war the world had ever seen. For Zeke was strong, even back then, he'd been ridiculously strong for his age; but Pandoria was  _ faster. _

Zeke's snowballs hit hard and his aim was true, but Pandoria would send a flurry in return, bury Zeke in mounds upon mounds of snow while she gathered more and more and more.

Zeke would always lose. He was always the first to concede - more out of the fact that, as a human, he felt the cold a lot more than Pandoria ever would. Even though he was naturally acclimated to the permanent freeze of Tantal, a body could take only so much of being completely submerged in ice and snow before even  _ Zeke _ admitted he couldn't manage much more.

So they'd stop, Pandoria would gloat because she'd won (yet again), and Zeke would adamantly argue that it was a  _ draw; _ that  _ actually,  _ he was being 'the bigger person' in this scenario.

"I called a truce," he would say, every single time, without fail, a smug grin slapped on his face. "While you continued in the fruitless brutality of war, I, the mighty Zekenator, realised that all this senseless fighting would only lead to more destruction. We're  _ both _ winners, Pandy. Because of  _ me, _ which - when you think about it - actually makes  _ me _ the winner. So… the Zekenator wins again!"

And - every time - Pandoria would roll her eyes, stuff a handful of snow down his coat, and run away laughing. 

"Nuh-uh," she'd shout, "You're just a sore loser!"

And then they'd run, run like whirlwinds amongst the falling snow. White coating their skin, melting on their tongues as they tipped their heads towards the heavens. They'd run until Zeke's cheeks were pink, his breath hot and his hands burning. They'd run and laugh and dip between the fallen ruins of Tantal, shout as loud as they possibly could, their laughter echoing across the vast emptiness before them. They would explore fallen structures, climb the few remaining trees that had managed to cling to life, slide across the frozen water and create patterns in the snow with their footprints.

They would have done all that, done it for hours and hours, snuck out of Theosoir whenever the time called for it and simply spent the day in one another's company - Pandoria learning more and more about the world she had been resonated into, learning more and more about her Driver, about Zeke; who - as long as Pandoria was around - would get the happy memories of childhood that his father would never give him.

Of course, the day would soon grow darker and the vangs and volffs would start to arrive from their darkened corners. The world around them would grow dangerous and although the two of them had been practising, neither were good enough to survive a night in these treacherous lands. But they would stay out there for as long as they possibly could, until almost all the light of the outside sun was gone, until only the very faintest marks of their shadows remained. They would stay outside until there was no time left, spend as much time as possible away from the rotting walls of Theosoir, the thick sadness that hangs there in ominous clouds.

They would wait, their breaths puffing from their lips in dragon-smoke, their eyes bright and their cheeks warm and ruddy. 

But they would always have to return.

Hand in hand, they would make the trek upwards. But this time, gone would be the laughter, gone would be their fun games. They would walk past their half-destroyed snow palaces, see the marks upon the land where their snowballs had hit, the peaks and slumps of snow. They would see their happiness, the joys of that day, slowly be replaced by more snow falling from the heavens. Falling from above, where the dark shadow of Theosoir lies.

They know that by tomorrow there will be nothing left. No proof that they had ever been here today. Their touch upon the earth would be gone, as if they had never even been there at all. But they would remember. Nothing could erase that. Not while the two of them were still living.

So up they would climb, higher and higher, until Theosoir would soon loom far above them. The fading ether light guiding them to a place that they called home, although it did not feel like it.

The guards would run out to meet them, for Zeke would be far too exhausted to try and sneak by unnoticed once more, and there is no point in prolonging the inevitable.

Eulogimenos would be furious, like he is every time they sneak out. He will shout at Zeke and Pandoria will listen from outside. Feel guilty, for it was her who had encouraged Zeke to sneak out, her who had gone directly against his father's orders.

She would catch words, stinging nettles, in Eulogimenos' raised voice.  _ Irresponsible. Not fit to be a king.  _

_ Your mother would be ashamed _ .

And every single time, Pandoria would regret it.

But then Zeke would leave, his eyes glistening ("Not with tears, Pandy!" he would lie. "It is my eye of shining justice, it's power is simply too strong!") but his face would be hard, his jaw set tight.

He would see Pandoria and he would break out into a smile, like the clouds parting their ways to make room for the brightness of sunlight. 

"Can we go out again tomorrow, Pandy?" He would ask, and Pandoria would always agree.

He was her prince,  _ Zeke _ , the person she cared about most in the world, and she would always do whatever he asked.  _ Always _ , because they worked together. The two of them.

Even now, over a decade later, when the two of them have returned to their 'home'land (for Tantal never truly felt like home) for the first time in years, they are still together. Still by one another's side, forever and always. 

They are older now, the two of them. Zeke has grown, transformed from a young boy to a man, shot up by what feels like ten feet. Pandoria still remembers when he was  _ smaller _ than her, when she used to look down at him and ruffle his hair.

Pandoria has grown older too. For although Blades do not change, although their faces are stagnant and never will their hair turn grey or their eyes become creased with the press of crows' feet, she has changed. She has matured, she'd like to think. Not much, but a teensy-tiny bit. 

They are different and - Pandoria thinks - perhaps when this whole Aegis business is over, they could return to Tantal. Make a difference. No longer are they the stubborn child and the scatterbrained blade, but they are people who have travelled the world. People who have seen so many cultures, so many new places. Seen the world at both its worst and its best.  _ Maybe, _ they could make a difference. Maybe they could rebuild what is lost, open Tantal's doors to the rest of the world and return it to the grand kingdom it had once been. 

But, for now, it is simply the two of them. Sneaking away from their camp on the drifts, tiptoeing away from the others, trying to smother their laughter as they trip and stumble over the slippery ice. Nia flips them off as they go by, looking up at them with an icy glare, her mouth open before she decides that whatever she was going to say isn't worth it, for Zeke is giving her that shit-eating grin that she  _ knows _ will descend into another weird interpretive dance that she'll have to sit through.

"Keep it down," she settles on, her voice hissing out into the night. "It's bloody freezing and we don't need you two making it even harder for us to sleep."

Simultaneously, Pandoria and Zeke give a mock curtsy, a two-fingered salute before they continue on their way. They know exactly what they're doing, exactly where they want to go. 

And, once they are far away enough that the sounds of their shouts will not awaken the rest of their ragtag gang, they let their memories overtake them and, like clockwork, their snow palaces begin to take form.

It's harder than Pandoria remembers it being and Zeke seems to be having trouble too. She swears her snow-castle had never looked this ugly and she swears Zeke's snow-wall had been tall and proud, rather than a half-slush mound that barely even comes to his pelvis. So maybe it's not as impressive as Pandoria had remembered, maybe it's colder out here than she had ever realised, but it's  _ good _ . It's  _ perfect _ , in fact. 

"Hey! My prince!" She says with a cackle, before she pelts clump after clump of snow at Zeke, howls with laughter as she dances around, the lightbulbs on her shoulder flickering in bursts of gleaming light. 

"Oi!" He splutters, hands clawing at the ground, quickly forming his own snowballs that he soon tosses back.

They are older now, stronger than they ever were before, and soon it breaks out into an all-out war. The 'Zekenator's Snowball Spectacular' is a particularly impressive move that has Pandoria landing flat on her back, buried under a whole sheath of snow as Zeke shouts louder and louder, his voice growing higher with the rising light all around them. 

They've had a hard few weeks.  _ They deserve this _ , and as Zeke jogs over to Pandoria, grabs her hand and hauls her out of the snow, his skin is warm, calloused with scars that she knows the stories of. 

She flings her arms around his neck, holds him close, feels the beat of his heart, the gentle pulse of ether that flows between them. 

There's still a lot more that is left to be done. A lot of bad in the world, a journey that is still not yet at its end. But for now, they have this. 

And Pandoria remembers. She remembers all of it, every single day she has spent beside Zeke's side. 

She thinks of her broken core crystal, the deep scar on Zeke's chest, glowing bright with Pandoria's own happiness. She thinks of that and she is thankful, for she knows that once this is all over, once their own stories have ended and their futures reach the end of their paths, she will not forget. 

**Author's Note:**

> ahaha snowball fic bc i can do that


End file.
